# Feng Xuan

> Feng Xuan is a Boston-based scientist-entrepreneur and the co-founder and CEO of Spear Bio, a biotechnology company building ultra-sensitive immunoassays for protein research and early disease diagnostics. He invented the company's core SPEAR (Successive Proximity Extension Amplification Reaction) technology as a Technology Development Fellow at Harvard's Wyss Institute, translating a decade of research in molecular and immuno-diagnostics into a platform that can measure minute quantities of protein biomarkers from sub-microliter samples. Under his leadership, Spear Bio raised an oversubscribed $45 million Series A in 2024 and earned FDA Breakthrough Device Designation for a blood-based pTau 217 test aimed at early Alzheimer's disease detection.

- **Role:** Co-Founder & CEO at Spear Bio
- **Organizations:** Spear Bio, Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering (Harvard), Harvard Medical School, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
- **Education:** Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Postdoctoral research, Harvard Medical School
- **Known for:** Invented the SPEAR (Successive Proximity Extension Amplification Reaction) ultra-sensitive protein detection technology at the Wyss Institute., Co-founded Spear Bio in 2021 and grew it to roughly 50+ employees., Led an oversubscribed $45 million Series A financing in 2024, backed by Foresite Capital and Bio-Techne.

## Career timeline

- **2010-2014** — Earned a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
- **post-2014** — Completed postdoctoral work at Harvard Medical School.
- **2010s** — Joined the Wyss Institute at Harvard as a postdoctoral fellow in Peng Yin's lab, later serving as a Technology Development Fellow.
- **2010s-2021** — Invented the SPEAR (Successive Proximity Extension Amplification Reaction) technology, working with co-inventors Cherry (Tsz Wing) Fan and Yu Wang.
- **2021** — Co-founded Spear Bio to commercialize SPEAR, becoming its leader (CTO, then CEO).
- **2022** — SPEAR technology licensed exclusively to Spear Bio through Harvard's Office of Technology Development.
- **2023** — Presented on SPEAR immunoassays at the World Vaccine Congress / Vaccines Summit in Boston.
- **2024** — Led Spear Bio's oversubscribed $45 million Series A round (July 29, 2024).
- **2025-2026** — Spear Bio secured FDA Breakthrough Device Designation for its pTau 217 blood test and prepared to unveil an automated instrument platform at AAIC 2026.

## Achievements

- Invented the SPEAR (Successive Proximity Extension Amplification Reaction) ultra-sensitive protein detection technology at the Wyss Institute.
- Co-founded Spear Bio in 2021 and grew it to roughly 50+ employees.
- Led an oversubscribed $45 million Series A financing in 2024, backed by Foresite Capital and Bio-Techne.
- Guided the company to FDA Breakthrough Device Designation for a blood-based pTau 217 Alzheimer's test.
- Developed a platform capable of detecting biomarkers such as Neurofilament light and pTau 217 at sub-femtogram-per-milliliter levels from sub-microliter samples.

## Latest updates

- **2026-07** — Spear Bio announced it would unveil novel Alzheimer's disease immunoassays and a fully automated SPEAR instrument platform at AAIC 2026.
- **2024-07** — Closed an oversubscribed $45 million Series A led by Foresite Capital and Bio-Techne to accelerate assay menu expansion and commercial offerings.

## Links

- Website: https://spear.bio
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/feng-xuan-2b1685108

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/feng-xuan
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-17